Scottish Championships at Annandale

 

Sun, storms, stonking winds and a fabulous social were the order of the day for this year’s Scottish Championships, sailed at Annandale SC on 25 and 26 April.

 

Anyone who has been to Annandale SC before will know just what a fantastic event this small but supremely friendly club lays on.  This year was no exception and the competitors had a wonderful weekend of sailing.  Saturday dawned sunny and relatively windless, but by the time racing began there was a steady breeze which allowed the fleet to enjoy some extremely competitive racing throughout the fleet.  OOD Kenneth Wilson (aka Luke Pie Walker) set the fleet off promptly at 1pm and race 1 was claimed by Mark and Emma Simpson, but they were pushed hard by Jo MacDonald and Greg Pitt, the new owners of Max Factor.  MacDonald and Pitt extracted their revenge in race 2 by reversing the placings.  Bernard Clark and Andrew Mitchell took 3^rd place in each race, with Howard Chadwick and Helen Nicholson claiming 4^th in the first race and Angus and Rohan Beyts claiming 4^th in race 2. 

 

 

 

 

After a break for tea (and some scrumptious home baked cakes) the fleet went back afloat for race 3.  The weather forecast had said to expect stronger winds in the late afternoon but had made no mention of thunder and lightning.  The first belt of lightning lit up the sky above the trees at the far end of the loch and that set the scene for some heavy weather sailing.  Mark and Emma battled round the course only to find that they didn’t get a finishing gun as they had been over the line at the start.  Jo and Greg took first, with Bernard and Andrew second.  Howard and Helen were third and the only other boat to finish.

 

Saturday evening saw Annandale host the most amazing curry night – a vast array of starters followed by a choice of 4 different curries, rice, naan bread, poppadoms and pickles, with copious quantities of alchoholic and non-alcoholic beverages included too.    Other clubs take note – this was all included in the very reasonable entrance fee!  Those who weren’t ‘curried out’ were able to round off their meal with pavlova, profiteroles and sherry trifle!

 

Sunday morning started off bright, sunny and windless, but by 11am there was a good breeze blowing down the Loch, and it was somewhat colder.  Mark and Emma took race 4, with Jo and Greg 2^nd and Bernard and Andrew 3^rd.  Race 5 saw Clark and Mitchell capsize before the start and miss the race after problems righting the boat, but there was another battle for the line which Mark and Emma claimed.  Howard and Helen were 3^rd with Chris and Ben Palmer 4^th.   The final race (after lunch – also included in the entry fee) saw the Simpsons again take line honours with Bernard and Andrew 2^nd and Jo and Greg 3^rd.  Howard and Helen were 4^th.

 

Final Results:

 

1^st         Mark and Emma Simpson, N3472

2^nd        Jo MacDonald and Greg Pitt, N3473

3^rd            Bernard Clark and Andrew Mitchell, N3447

4^th        Howard Chadwick and Helen Nicolson, N3356 – also first AC

5^th        Chris and Ben Palmer, N3244

 

Brian Herring and Ros Stevenson were 8^th overall and first Vintage boat.

 

Author and photographer: Jennie Clark